The daily number of Covid-19 cases in the country could shoot up to 1,200 by the end of this month if the uptick in infections continues, the Department of Health (DOH) warned on Saturday, June 18.
“Projections that by the end of June ay maaari po na aabot tayo to 800 to 1,200 cases per day kung magtutuloy-tuloy po ang mga kaso natin sa ngayon (we may reach 800 to 1,200 cases per day if our current case trend continues),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Vergeire said that the average daily number of cases nationwide is now over 300.
“Sa ngayon po nakikita natin na patuloy po ang unti-unting pagtaas ng kaso sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa (Right now, we can see that the number of cases continues to rise in various parts of the country),” she said.
“Currently, we are averaging around 350 cases per day nationally kung saan kapag tiningnan natin from the previous week ay tumaas talaga siya (in which when we look at from the previous week, it actually increased) by about 50 to 60 percent,” she added.
The DOH official reminded the public that this scenario can still be reversed.
"Kailangan nating i-prevent na mangyari iyan (We need to prevent this from happening) because these projections are not cast in stones, these are just used for us to prepare," she said.
This can be prevented if the public will continue to strictly follow the health protocols and those eligible will receive their Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, said Vergeire.
“Let us continue to practice the minimum public health standards. Always wear your mask,” she said.
“Nakikita ho natin (We can see) and it is part of the projections of the Department with our experts, we are already having waning immunity because of the slow uptick of boosters,” she added.
“So, ang pinaka-importante po talaga para sa ating population would be for us to receive boosters. Magpa-booster na po tayo para tumaas uli ang ating immunity sa ating populasyon at maputol natin ang transmission (the most important thing for our population would be for us to receive boosters. Let us get boosted to again increase the immunity of our population as well as to break the chains of transmission),” she furthered.